Friedrich Simony (30 November 1813, Hrochowteinitz – 20 July 1896, Sankt Gallen) was an Austrian

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

and Alpine researcher. Initially trained as a pharmacist, from 1836 he studied natural sciences at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich hist ...

by way of influence from botanist

Joseph Franz von Jacquin Joseph "Krystel" Franz Freiherr von Jacquin or Baron Joseph von Jacquin (7 February 1766, in Schemnitz (now Banská Štiavnica) – 26 October 1839, in Vienna) was an Austrian scientist who studied medicine, chemistry, zoology and botany. ...

. In 1848 he became a curator at the natural history museum in

Klagenfurt Klagenfurt am WörtherseeLandesgesetzblatt 2008 vom 16. Jänner 2008, Stück 1, Nr. 1: ''Gesetz vom 25. Oktober 2007, mit dem die Kärntner Landesverfassung und das Klagenfurter Stadtrecht 1998 geändert werden.'/ref> (; ; sl, Celovec), usually ...

, and during the following year, served as chief

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althoug ...

at the Imperial Geological Institute in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. In 1851, at the University of Vienna, he attained the first professorship for geography in Austria. In this role, he conducted research in the fields of

glaciology Glaciology (; ) is the scientific study of glaciers, or more generally ice and natural phenomena that involve ice. Glaciology is an interdisciplinary Earth science that integrates geophysics, geology, physical geography, geomorphology, c ...

climatology Climatology (from Greek , ''klima'', "place, zone"; and , ''-logia'') or climate science is the scientific study of Earth's climate, typically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of at least 30 years. This modern field of study ...

speleology Speleology is the scientific study of caves and other karst features, as well as their make-up, structure, physical properties, history, life forms, and the processes by which they form ( speleogenesis) and change over time (speleomorphology) ...

ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overl ...

hydrology Hydrology () is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets, including the water cycle, water resources, and environmental watershed sustainability. A practitioner of hydrology is call ...

phytogeography Phytogeography (from Greek φυτόν, ''phytón'' = "plant" and γεωγραφία, ''geographía'' = "geography" meaning also distribution) or botanical geography is the branch of biogeography that is concerned with the geographic distribution ...

, etc.Simony, Friedrich
Deutsche Biographie From 1840 he performed geomorphological and glaciological research of the

Dachstein Mountains The Dachstein Mountains (german: Dachsteingebirge) are a mountain range in the Northern Limestone Alps. The term is used by the Austrian Alpine Club in its classification of the Eastern Alps as one of the 24 sub-ranges of the Northern Limestone A ...

. In September 1843 he was the first to spend the night at the summit of

Hoher Dachstein Hoher Dachstein () is a strongly karstic mountain in central Austria and the second-highest mountain in the Northern Limestone Alps. It is situated at the border of Upper Austria and Styria, and is the highest point in each of those states. Pa ...

(2995 m); in January 1847 he was first to achieve a winter ascent of the peak.Heights of Reflection: Mountains in the German Imagination
by Sean Moore Ireton, Caroline Schaumann He is credited as being the first to undertake systematic meteorological studies of the eastern

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Swi ...

, similar to the research Horace-Bénédict de Saussure performed in the western Alps years earlier.The Geographical Journal, Volume 1
Google Books He was a pioneer in the field of

limnology Limnology ( ; from Greek λίμνη, ''limne'', "lake" and λόγος, ''logos'', "knowledge") is the study of inland aquatic ecosystems. The study of limnology includes aspects of the biological, chemical, physical, and geological characteris ...

; in 1844 he conducted depth soundings of the

Hallstätter See Hallstätter See or Lake Hallstatt is a lake in the Salzkammergut, Austria. It is named after Hallstatt, a small market town famous for its salt mining since prehistoric times and for being the starting point of the world's oldest still-working i ...

, results of which, were published decades later in ''Atlas der österreichischen Alpenseen'' ("Atlas of the Austrian Alpine lakes", edited by

Albrecht Penck Albrecht Penck (25 September 1858 – 7 March 1945) was a German geographer and geologist and the father of Walther Penck. Biography Born in Reudnitz near Leipzig, Penck became a university professor in Vienna, Austria, from 1885 to 1906, a ...

and Eduard Richter, 2 volumes, 1895–96). Throughout his career, he conducted extensive investigations on the depths and temperatures of all the lakes in

Salzkammergut The Salzkammergut (; ; bar, Soizkaumaguad, label=Central Austro-Bavarian) is a resort area in Austria, stretching from the city of Salzburg eastwards along the Alpine Foreland and the Northern Limestone Alps to the peaks of the Dachstein Mou ...

In 1862 he was co-founder of the Austrian Alpine Club. Today, the organization owns a building known as the "Simony-Hütte" (

Simony Hut The Simony Hut (german: Simonyhütte) is an Alpine club hut belonging to the Austrian Alpine Club (OeAV) located at a height of 2,205 metres, just below the Hallstätter Glacier at the foot of the Hoher Dachstein in Austria. The hut, which is n ...

, 2205 m). It is located near

Hallstätter Glacier The Hallstätter Glacier (german: Hallstätter Gletscher) (formerly also called the ''Karleisfeld'' or Karl Icefield) is the largest glacier in the Dachstein Mountains. It lies immediately beneath the northern foot of the Dachstein itself and ...

and is named after him. His name is also associated with several Alpine landmarks, such as: ''Simonykees'' (Simony Glacier), ''Simony-Scharte'' (Simony Notch), ''Simonyschneide'' (Simony Ridge) and ''Simonyspitzen'' (Simony Peaks).

Selected works

* ''Die Seen des Salzkammergutes'', 1850. * ''Die Alterthümer vom Hallstätter Salzberg und dessen Umgehung'', 1851. * ''Physiognomischer Atlas der österreichischen Alpen'', 1862. * ''Die Gletscher des Dachsteingebirges'', 1871. A.Z. * ''Das Dachsteingebeit: ein geographisches Charakterbild aus den österreichischen Nordalpen'', 3 volumes, 1889–95).WorldCat Search
published works

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simony, Freidrich 1813 births 1896 deaths University of Vienna alumni Academic staff of the University of Vienna Austrian geographers People from Chrudim District German Bohemian people Austrian people of German Bohemian descent